Why should you focus group your demonstratives?
Imagine this…you were at a conference or got an email from a company that showed you the incredible graphics that they have done for other clients, resulting in 7 and 8+ figure settlements and verdicts. You get excited seeing how you can enhance your case to help your client, and you pull the trigger on an amazing animation. You take your animation to trial…and you lose. Did that animation help or hurt your case? Unless you take the time to focus group your animation, you may never know.
Sean Claggett, an attorney out of Las Vegas, almost had this happen to him. A referring attorney came to him with a TBI case. In the work the referring attorney had already done on this case was a really nice-looking animation that he paid $54,000 for from a company he met at a conference. The referring attorney was adamant that they use the animation due to the expense. Sean was impressed by the animation, but had some reservations as it didn’t seem like the company that did the animation fully understood what needed to be shown to a jury. Sean asked the referring attorney if he had run the animation through any focus groups, and to his surprise, he found that the attorney had spent all that money without the animation ever getting in front of a focus group! Sean immediately scheduled two focus groups to see if it helped or hurt the case. After running the animation through the focus group sessions consisting of 9-10 mock jurors, Sean found out that the $54,000 animation not only hurt their case, but it would take a winning case and turn it into a loser! Sean had to break the news to the referring attorney that he just wasted $54,000 – he was not happy when he heard this news. Sean discussed the case with our team to ensure we understood it from the perspective of a jury, and we made him a new animation, for only $12,000, that highlighted what the jury needed to see. The result was a $20,000,000 verdict.
The moral of this story is to take the time and make the investment to run focus group session(s) on your demonstratives…it may actually save you money in the end. For a nominal fee, we will take care of this process for you. We find 9-10 people for your panel, bring them to our mock courtroom, and supply a professional moderator. During the session, you can live stream and/or get a recording to watch and analyze later. We even provide our professional opinion on any changes that we think may be needed to put the finishing touches on the work we have done for you. Oh, and those changes we recommend? If you had us provide the animation, all recommended changes are included in your focus group fee. It’s a win-win for you, and more likely to lead to a win for your client at the arbitration table or in the courtroom!
Let us bring your case to life…..
Our team of animators, illustrators and medical professionals are ready to make your demonstratives ready for your next mediation or litigation. Click on the link to the right or give us a call (702) 849-0090.
